Vietnamese businesses need to be vigilant against commercial fraud in the African market.

The scam involves asking Vietnamese businesses to deposit and pay fees in advance online and through accounts, but they do not deliver the goods.

The Department of African, West Asian and South Asian Markets, Ministry of Industry and Trade said: Recently, a number of Vietnamese enterprises have been defrauded by subjects in Africa, mainly in Central Africa and West Africa such as Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Togo... Most recently, a timber importing enterprise was defrauded by subjects in the Republic of Cameroon.

According to Mr. Pham Trung Nghia, Deputy Director of the Department of African, West Asian and South Asian Markets: Currently, Vietnam mainly imports cashews and wood from Africa and exports to this market agricultural products, textiles, footwear, machinery, equipment and spare parts for the agricultural sector... In import-export transactions, all of these items are at risk of being cheated.

The tricks and forms often used by subjects to commit fraud include: Requiring Vietnamese enterprises to deposit, pay in advance import costs, transaction fees, contract guarantee fees, etc. via the internet and accounts. After the Vietnamese enterprise transfers money to perform the contract, the subject terminates all transactions and does not deliver the goods as per the signed contract.

According to Mr. Pham Trung Nghia, after the scams occurred, the Department of Markets for Africa, West Asia and South Asia, along with the Trade Office of the Vietnamese Embassy in Africa, stepped in to investigate but could not find any clues about the scammers. This also means that they could not help businesses recover the money they had been scammed.

Mr. Pham Trung Nghia added: Some countries in Central and West Africa mainly speak French, except for some countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Niberia... However, scammers in these countries all use English in transactions. This is one of the signs that Vietnamese businesses need to pay attention to when contacting businesses in this region. French-speaking countries where document transactions in English are problematic.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has also issued many warnings about this situation to Vietnamese enterprises through mass media and seminars on how to avoid risks when enterprises want to do business in the African market. However, there are still enterprises that do not know, and the situation of enterprises being scammed has occurred in the recent past./.

According to VOV - NT